Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Big Girl Bed

There was always a reason that the timing didn't seem right to transition Georgia to a bed. I won't bore you with the lame list. Then we ran out of reasons and figured we had better get on with it. I mean, she's over 3 and the bed's been in her room for about a year now.

Last Week
Day 1: happily takes a nap in the Big Girl Bed.
Night 1: all set to go to bed in the Big Girl Bed, moments away from final goodnight kisses, she asks, "But who is going to sleep in here with me?", suggests June, and declares that she would much rather sleep in her crib. So we move her back.

Georgia now naps in the bed but sleeps overnight in the crib. She has told Joe that we should just buy her a bigger crib, "So that I can keep sleeping in my crib when I'm as big as you are!" That girl has a solution for everything, I tell ya. Also, when I asked her the other day when she thought she'd feel like sleeping in the Big Girl Bed overnight, she said, "Maybe when I'm 4."

I thought kids were supposed to be begging for this? Is it weird that she's not at all motivated by the "big girls do it" line of reasoning when it comes to this (or anything else) and would rather do babyish things? I swear we go out of our way to not favor June (or Georgia for that matter), so I'm not sure why she thinks it's so much cooler to be a baby.

The thing is, she's still sleeping fine in her crib and has plenty of room in there, so I see no point in pushing her. We were totally only doing it because everyone else does - it seems the "normal" thing to do. Just tell me she is eventually going to change her mind, right?

Does anyone know of a good children's book about sleeping in a big kid bed? We've got an Elmo one that's okay but not much of a story - it's more of a 5 page board book. The others I found on Amazon all seem to be stories about kids who are scared of the bed, and I guess I don't want to put those ideas in her head, because she's more uninterested than frightened.

6 comments:

Me? A Mom? said...

I'm a big believer of the they'll-do-it-when-they-are-ready philosophy.

Obviously Georgia likes security and comfort, which the crib provides. Perhaps once she's not going to preschool she'll feel more comfortable pushing herself out of her comfort zone and trying something new.

I think her napping in the bed is great progress. If it were my child, I'd follow her lead on this one, which it sounds like she's doing.

I think it's incredibly sweet that she still wants to be in her crib. Kids grow up so fast these days...

p.s. I'd LOVE if Lila was still in a crib, especially in the mornings! bwaahaaha

Me? A Mom? said...

*you're doing* .... not she's doing.

Susan said...

Oh, sweet Georgia! Sounds like she'll get there eventually if she's up for napping in the big bed. An idea for later down the road is that you could get rid of the crib so that it isn't an option and maybe involve Georgia in that process. Tell her you're giving it to a family that really needs a crib for their little baby (even if you don't know such a family, you can donate it to Salvation Army or something). Maybe Georgia could get on board with something like that??

jessica said...

I love this Georgia girl. She's smart AND cracks me up.

Maggie said...

I could fill a book with the number of things that "they" say kids are supposed to do at certain times. Georgia will decide one day that she wants to sleep in the bed and then she'll probably demand that the crib be removed that VERY INSTANT. No need to rush this frustration, it will present itself in due time :-)

Ann Price said...

Oooh, I was just wondering about all this. Elisa is showing NO signs of interest in a big girl bed and neither am I!! Will be interested to see how/when Georgia decides it's time.